German School, mid 16th Century

Kupferstich Kabinett of the Grand Duke of Baden, Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe (L.1603) and L.2491, the stamp placed on works disposed of from the collection

Two vertical creases in the paper - one at center, going down, one at center of bottom edge going up. Small losses at top two corners, with heavy paper squares stuck at back, also small tear bottom edge towards left corner with same kind of repair on back. Several pinprick holes and small foxing spots scattered over sheet.
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This captivating image of a dog scratching himself is both timeless, and firmly rooted in a late medieval, courtly world. It is derived from a drypoint print, executed circa 1475 by the artist known either as the Housebook Master or the Master of the Amsterdam Cabinet. Only one single impression of the print survives, in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.¹ Although the image is a highly original one, its origins can be traced to the strikingly naturalistic, narrative details found in the border decorations of many medieval manuscripts, and indeed a very similar motif of a scratching dog can be found in a Book of Hours produced in Utrecht in around 1450-60.²

The drawing is in reverse to the print, but cannot be the study for it, as it is more than twice as large (the print measures only 113 by 112 mm). It is also executed in a style very different from that of the Master's known drawings, and using different media: the broadly applied black chalk, seen here in combination with a fine pen outline, is not to be found anywhere in the Housebook itself, or in any of the other individual drawings that have reasonably been attributed to the artist, all of which are drawn in an energetic but linear style, without any broad application of tone. The paper is also not 15^th century; its origin cannot be established with total certainty, but it seems most probably German, and no earlier than the mid-16^th century. This dating and origin fits well with the drawing style.

During the second half of the 16^th century, there was a great revival of interest in Germany in the works of the leading artists of the early part of the century, particularly Albrecht Dürer, but this interest was not previously known to have extended to the Housebook Master, probably because his works were too rare to achieve any kind of widespread recognition and admiration. Today, seventy of the eighty-nine known prints by the artist survive only in unique, single impressions, most of them in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.  Although it is likely that more examples did previously exist, it seems that there can never have been many in circulation. The aesthetic of the print of the scratching dog would surely have appealed to a mid-16^th century German audience, although it is unclear how they would have come to know the image. But since the whereabouts of the Rijksmuseum impression of the print is only known from the 18^th century (when it was owned by Baron van Leyden), we must assume that it or other impressions, or perhaps even a lost preparatory drawing, must in fact have been accessible in Germany during the 16^th century, and have inspired the artist of the present, extremely accomplished drawing.

The Germanic link is further supported by the existence of 16th-century bronze dogs, attributed to Peter Visscher, which are in similar poses and have been considered to derive from the Housebook Master's print, though this connection may be tenuous.

1. See Livelier than Life, the Master of the Amsterdam Cabinet or the Housebook Master, ca. 1470-1500, exh. cat., Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, 1985, p. 177, cat. no. 78

2. The Hague, Rijksmuseum Meermanno-Westreenianum, ms. 10 F 50; see Livelier than life..., p. 16, fig. 7.